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Learn to draw a brick wall in elevation with even courses, clear mortar joints, stretcher offset, and consistent edge shading using checkable steps.
This lesson teaches a reliable method for drawing a brick wall in elevation, not perspective. You will set a course height, mark mortar joints, lay bricks in a stretcher pattern, and add edge shading that reads as depth. The convention is explicit: each brick is a rectangle whose top and bottom edges sit on course lines, and mortar joints are the gaps between rectangles. All vertical measurements are taken from the baseline of each course to its top line. The page focuses on consistent spacing and clear joints in an elevation drawing. The rubric rewards consistent spacing and clear joints rather than a single perfect look. All measurements are hypothetical examples unless you measure your own paper and tools. Work on plain paper with a pencil and ruler. The goal is a wall panel that looks orderly, with courses that stay parallel and joints that do not drift.
Practice materials: Printable downloads are not available for this lesson yet. Use the instructions and four exercises below.
A course is one horizontal row of bricks. Decide a course height that fits your paper. For example, if your wall panel is 120 mm tall and you want 8 courses, each course is 15 mm. Mark the baseline at the bottom, then step up by 15 mm and draw a light horizontal line for each course top. These lines are the course lines. Keep them parallel by checking the distance at both ends of the panel with a ruler.
Next, decide the brick length and mortar joint width. A simple convention is a 30 mm brick length with a 5 mm joint, so one brick plus one joint is 35 mm. This is a hypothetical example; measure your own ruler and paper to choose values that fit. Mark vertical joint positions along each course line. Offset every other course by half a brick plus half a joint so the joints do not line up vertically. This offset is the stretcher pattern.
Work one course at a time. On each course, place rectangles between the vertical joint marks. The gap between two rectangles is the mortar joint. Keep joint width consistent by using the same ruler setting for every gap. If a brick would run past the panel edge, stop at the edge and leave the partial brick as drawn; do not stretch the joint to fill space.
Check the pattern by counting bricks per course. In a stretcher pattern with a half-brick offset, alternating courses will start with a half brick and end with a half brick. This is normal. The important check is that each course is offset by half a brick plus half a joint from the course below, so joints do not line up vertically. Use a light pencil line to confirm this offset before darkening any edges.
Edge shading suggests depth without perspective. Choose one light direction, such as light from the upper left. Shade the right and bottom edges of each brick lightly, leaving the top and left edges clean. Keep the shading inside the brick rectangle so mortar joints stay visible. Use short parallel strokes or a soft pencil side; do not smear across joints.
Shade the wall edges more strongly than the brick edges. A narrow band along the right and bottom of the whole panel can suggest the wall's thickness. Keep this band outside the brick rectangles so it does not read as a brick. Check that the shading direction is the same on every brick; inconsistent direction makes the wall look noisy.
Review the wall by stepping back. Check that course lines are parallel, joint widths are even, and the half-brick offset repeats correctly. Look for joints that drift or bricks that change size. Correct lightly with an eraser before darkening final lines.
Use a simple arithmetic check: if the panel is 120 mm wide and one brick plus one joint is 35 mm, then about three full bricks plus joints fit across, with a partial brick at the edge. This is a hypothetical example. Your own numbers will differ, but the count should match your grid. If the count does not match, adjust the joint marks rather than the course lines.
A wall panel is 100 mm tall and 140 mm wide. Use 5 courses, a brick length of 25 mm, and a joint width of 5 mm. Describe the course grid and first two courses in stretcher pattern. Treat the 140 mm panel as a crop through a continuing brick grid; clip partial edge bricks without re-centering them.
Course height is 100 mm ÷ 5 = 20 mm. One repeating course period is a 25 mm brick plus a 5 mm joint, or 30 mm. Course 1 has bricks on the continuing grid from 0–25, 30–55, 60–85, 90–115, and 120–145 mm; the last brick is clipped by the 140 mm panel edge, leaving 20 mm visible. Course 2 is shifted left by 15 mm, half the 30 mm period. Inside the panel it has a 10 mm left partial brick, a 5 mm joint, four full 25 mm bricks separated by three 5 mm joints, then a fifth 5 mm joint and a 5 mm visible piece of the next brick. The course 2 joint centers are 12.5, 42.5, 72.5, 102.5, and 132.5 mm. These match the centers of the underlying course 1 bricks, including 132.5 mm for the full 120–145 mm edge brick. The visible clipped portion of that course 1 brick spans 120–140 mm and has a segment midpoint of 130 mm, but it is not re-centered when checking the continuing brick grid. Check: course 1 uses 4×25 + 4×5 + 20 = 140 mm; course 2 uses 10 + 5 + 4×25 + 3×5 + 5 + 5 = 140 mm.
A panel is 90 mm tall. You want 6 courses. What is the course height?
15 mm per course.
Why: Divide the panel height by the number of courses: 90 divided by 6 equals 15.
Check: Multiply 15 mm by 6 courses and confirm the result is 90 mm.
A brick is 20 mm long and the joint is 4 mm wide. How many full bricks plus joints fit across a 96 mm panel, and what remains?
Four bricks plus four joints (three interior joints plus one trailing joint) total 96 mm, so the panel ends exactly at a trailing joint with no partial brick.
Why: One brick plus one joint is 24 mm. Four of these use 96 mm, which equals the panel width.
Check: Add 24 mm four times and compare with 96 mm.
In a stretcher pattern, course 1 starts with a full brick. Course 2 is offset by half a brick plus half a joint. If the brick is 30 mm and the joint is 6 mm, what is the offset?
18 mm.
Why: Half a brick is 15 mm and half a joint is 3 mm; 15 plus 3 equals 18 mm.
Check: Add 18 mm to the start of course 1; this equals half a brick (15 mm) plus half a joint (3 mm). Check that each course 2 joint is 18 mm from the nearest course 1 joint.
You shade the right and bottom edges of each brick with light from the upper left. A classmate shades the left and top edges instead. Is that acceptable under the rubric?
It is acceptable only if the classmate uses one consistent direction throughout and the shading stays inside brick rectangles.
Why: The rubric rewards consistent direction and clean joints, not one universal light direction.
Check: Scan every brick and confirm the shaded edges are the same pair on all bricks and do not cross joints.
No. This lesson draws the wall in elevation, so courses stay horizontal and parallel. Perspective is excluded.
Choose one width and keep it consistent. A 5 mm joint is a hypothetical example; measure your own paper and ruler to pick a workable value.
Yes, but this lesson uses stretcher pattern with a half-brick offset. If you change the pattern, keep the course grid and joint width consistent.
Pick one direction, such as upper left, and shade the opposite edges on every brick. Consistency matters more than the chosen direction.